Air-jet-operated toy spinning top



March 12, 1968 k. L, Sm ET AL- 3,372,511

AIR-JET-OPERATED TOY SPINNING TOP Filed June 7, 1965 INVENTORS RICHARDL.SMITH FRANCES L.SMITH United States Patent Ofilice 3372,51 l PatentedMar. 12, 1968 3,372,511 AIR-JET-OPERATED TGY SPINNING TOP Richard L.Smith and Frances L. Smith, both of 44037 N. Fig Ave, Lancaster, Calif.93534 Filed June 7, 1965, Ser. No. 461,823 1 Claim. (Cl. 4656) ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE The specification discloses a toy spinning top whichis provided with a peripheral turbine means and an air-jetproducingmeans tangentially aligned with the turbine means so that an air jetproduced by either blowing through the air-jet-producing means or byoperating a collapsible bulb type of hand pump, or the like, will strikethe turbine in a tangential manner and impart rotation to the toy topand cause it to spin in a mounting ring which carries a vertical pivotpin upon which the toy is mounted.

Generally speaking, the present invention relates to the toy top artand, more particularly, to a jet-operated top which, in one preferredexemplary form, is operated by a jet of air either supplied orally orfrom a collapsible bulb-type of hand pump or the like, although it maybe operated by any suitable source of fluid under pressure. Thejet-operated top comprises a top body provided with a peripheral,elfective turbine means adapted to receive the air or fluid jet and tothereby impart spinning motion to the top which is effectively mountedin a mounting ring which, in a preferred exemplary form, is verticallymounted upon an underlying base so that the device can be suitablymounted, usually upon a substantially horizontal, underlying supportingsurface, for subsequent operation by forcibly applying theabove-mentioned air or fluid jet to said turbine means.

It will be understood that the top provides a novel toy for childrenand, in the case of adults, might comprise a humorous device which, inone preferred form, might be labeled with the legend, Go Ahead and BlowYour Top, and intended for use by a person who is under nervous tensionor stress and who gives vent to same or lets olf steam by operating thetop in the manner described above, usually with a humorous aftermathWith the above points in mind, it is an object of the present inventionto provide a novel jet-operated top having the advantages referred toherein and the features referred to herein, generically and/ orspecifically, and individually or in combination, and which is ofextremely simple, inexpensive construction adapted for ready massmanufacture at extremely low cost whereby to be conducive to widespreaduse thereof.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which followshereinafter (which is to be considered as exemplary of, but notspecifically limiting, the present invention), and said objects will beapparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study of thedetailed description which follows hereinafter.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, oneexemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in thehereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying single drawing sheetand is described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is an exterior, three-dimensional, pictorial view of oneexemplary form of the present invention in fully mounted and operativerelationship and, indeed, shows the jet-operated top in the act of beingoperated by the oral application of a jet of air to the turbine meansthereof. The flexible tube used for orally applying the air jet to theturbine means of the top is shown in fragmentary, partially broken awayform, as is most of the face and head of the person orally applying airto said tubing. This is done for drawing space saving reasons and sincethe elimination thereof does not in any way impair the ef fectiveness ofthe disclosure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, partially broken away, centralplane, sectional view, taken substantially along the plane indicated bythe arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1. However, it should be noted that the centralspindle means of the top is shown in full elevation rather than insection and that substantially all of the central portion of the hollowtop body between the upper end thereof and the lower end thereof isbroken away and eliminated for drawing space saving reasons, as is alsotrue with respect to side portions of the underlying, horizontal basemeans.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary view, substantially entirely insection, although a portion of the tubing means is shown in top planView, taken substantially along the plane indicated by the arrows 3-3 ofFIG. 1 and clearly illustrates the cooperative relationship of the airjetproducing means and the peripheral effective turbine means carried bythe hollow top body; said cooperative relationship making it possible toproduce or cause rotation of the hollow top body around the vertical,longitudinal spindle means in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1.

Generally speaking, the exemplary form of the invention illustrated maybe said to comprise a mounting ring, such as generally designated at 10,which is adapted to be mounted with respect to a supporting base member,such as is generally designated at 12, and which is adapted to engage anauxiliary supporting surface, such as that shown fragmentarily at 14 inFIG. 1, for positioning the mounting ring 10 in a desired spacialorientation with a top body, such as is generally designated at 16,rotatively mounted by a longitudinal spindle means, such as is generallydesignated at 18, within the mounting ring 10 for relative rotationaround the longitudinal axis of said spindle means 18 when ajet-producing means, generally designated at 26, effectively applies ajet of fluid to an effective turbine means such as is generallydesignated at 22.

The structure of the exemplary form of the invention just described ingeneral form, is clearly illustrated in FIG. 1 in a particularexemplification thereof which will now be described in greater detailwith respect to particular aspects of the exemplary form illustrated.

In said particular exemplary form illustrated, it will be noted that themounting ring 10 may effectively be said to comprise a very shortcylinder, such as would be produced by cutting a short length from alarge diameter tubefor example, four-inch diameter aluminum tubinghaving a wall thickness of perhaps X inch, for example, although notspecifically so limited, may have a very short length cut therefrom toform the ring 10 which, in the preferred exemplary form illustrated, isfastened in an upright, vertical position by the welding 23 whicheffectively connects same to a horizontal top panel portion 24 of thesubstantially horizontal base means 12 which is made of a flat,thin-sheet, metal blank having extended corner portions which are thenfolded down at an angle of substantially 45 degrees (although notspecifically so limited) whereby to form the downwardly directed footportions or feet 26 adapted to rest upon the horizontal underlyingsurface 14. This provides a very simple and inexpensive structure highlysuitable for the purposes of the present invention, although it shouldnot be construed as specifically limiting the invention thereto in allforms thereof.

Also in the exemplary form illustrated, the hollow top body 16 mayactually comprise three parts, in addition to the spindle means 18,including the upper top body portion 16U, the lower top body portion16L, which is substantially similar to the upper top body portion 16U,although positionally reversed, and the intermediate centrallypositioned previously mentioned turbine means 22, which elfecitvelycomprises a central peripheral or outer circumferential portion of thecomplete hollow top body 16.

In one preferred form, the upper and lower top body portion 16U and 16Lmight be die cut and/ or stamped from thin-sheet material, such asthin-sheet aluminum or the like, although not specifically so limited,and the central turbine means might be similarly made. The threeportions of the hollow top body 16 comprising the upper portion 16U, thelower portion 16L, and the central turbine means 22, may then besuitably joined together mechanically, such as by press-fitting or thelike, or they might be soldered, cemented, or otherwise joined togetherin any desired manner with the longitudinal spindle means 18, of course,being centrally vertically positioned along a longitudinal, central,vertical axis of rotation which lies substantially on the section 2-2 ofFIG. 1 and which may be considered to be designated thereby in FIG. I.Said longitudinal spindle means passes through top and bottom apertures28 in the upper and lower top body portion 16U and 16L and may beeffectively fastened thereto by solder or the like, or by any othersuitable means. In fact, in certain cases, it might comprise aneffectively keyed or splined connection by appropriately shaping thespindle means 18 and the aperture-defining portions 28 where they engageeach other in the locations most clearly shown in FIG. 2.

It should be noted that the longitudinal spindle means 18 has aligned,oppositely outwardly projecting opposite end portions 18E terminating incorresponding oppositely directed pivot points 18P which are rotativelymounted within and received by correspondingly positioned effectivereceiving recess means 30 carried by opposite inside surface portions ofthe mounting ring at the top and bottom thereof as is most clearly shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated.This effectively mounts the complete hollow top body 16 for rotationabout a longitudinal, vertical axis lying along the center of thelongitudinal spindle means 18 and concentric with respect to the hollowtop body 16.

The previously mentioned jet-producing means, generally designated at 20in the exemplary form illustrated, comprises a tube, conduit, or thelike, designated by the reference numeral 32 and which, in the exampleillustrated, comprises a flexible rubber or plastic tube or the like,which has a remote rear end 32R adapted to be supplied with pressurizedair (or other pressurized fluid) whereby to cause the entire structuregenerally designated at 20 to effectively comprise pressurizing meanshaving a forward ejection or emission end portion 32E effectivelysubstantially horizontally carried by the mounting ring 10, preferablyin a slightly tangential direction with respect to the peripheraleffective turbine means 22 of the hollow top body 16 as is clearly shownin both FIGS. 1 and 3, whereby the act of blowing into the rear end 32Rof the tubing 32 will effectively apply pressurized air thereto and willcause air to be emitted from the ejection or emission end 32E in aslightly tangential horizontal direction for impingement upon saidperipheral effective turbine means 22 which will, of course, effectivelyapply torque thereto and to the complete rotatively mounted hollow topbody 16 whereby to produce rotation thereof around the axis of rotationthereof coincident with the longitudinal spindle means 18, as isillustrated in FIG. 1.

It will be noted that the jet producing or pressurizing means 20 is sopositioned and mounted by the mounting ring 10 as to effectively lie ina plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal spindle meansand in a direction having the above-mentioned tangential component withrespect to said peripheral effective turbine means 22.

In the exemplary form illustrated, the positioning and mounting of thejet-producing or pressurizing means 20 is provided by an angularaperture means 34 in a side portion of the mounting ring 10, which maybe made initially slightly smaller in interior diameter than theexterior diameter of the forward emission end portion 32E of the rubberor elastomeric tube 32 whereby said emission end 32E can be resilientlyforced into the mounted relationship shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and will befrictionally resiliently received and firmly held in the desired sideposition and in the desired horizontal tangential relationship withrespect to the effective turbine means 22. However, this arrangement maybe modified by the provision of a permanently tangentially horizontallypositioned nozzle or rigid tubing adapted to receive over the rear orouter end thereof, or otherwise engage, the end of the rubber tubing 32in lieu of the arrangement just described, or various other functionalequivalents thereof may be employed in lieu of the exemplary arrangementillustrated in the figures.

Also, it should be noted that, instead of directly applying a personsmouth, such as is generally designated at 36 in FIG. 1, to the remoterear end 32R of the tube 32 for effectively pressurizing same, anordinary drinking straw or the like may be slipped into said end 32R andthe persons mouth 36 may be applied to the remote end of the straw, thusproviding a sanitary arrangement which does not require that the personsmouth 36 actually touches the tube end 32R and, furthermore, this makesit possible to remove and interchange the straw for each subsequent userof the device.

Also, other pressurizing means may be employed in lieu of the personsmouth, such as shown at 36. For example, a hand pump of the collapsiblebulb, one-way valved type, or any other functional equivalent thereofincluding pressurized sources of various other fluids, may be employedin lieu of the specific arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1.

In the exemplary form illustrated, the peripheral effective turbinemeans 22, as previously mentioned, may be made of die cut and/or stampedthin-sheet material and may effectively be shaped and formed so as todefine and provide a circumferential series of angularly directed,assymetrical, ratchet-type, bucket-defining toothed vane portions 38encircling the central part of said hollow top body 16 and with all ofsaid toothed vane portions 38 having similarly tangentially inclinedouter faces 38F interconnected by inwardly substantially radiallydirected, rearwardly facing, shoulder surface portions 388 forming, withthe corresponding, tangentially forwardly inclined, outer surfaceportions 38F, acute angles such as is clearly evident from a carefulexamination of FIG. 3. However, said turbine means 22 may be modifiedsubstantially w1th1n the broad scope of the present invention providedthat it will produce a tangential force component in response to theimpingement thereon of pressurized fluid from the pressurizing means 20.In certain cases, an adjusting screw may be mounted in e1ther the top orbottom portion of the mounting ring 10 adapted to receive the pivotpoint portions 18P of the spindle means 18 and may have anend-positioned countersunk recess portion equivalent to thecorrespondlng one of the recessed portions 30 shown in FIG. 2, butthreadedly adjustable in order to provide the proper tension of theeffectively resilient engagement thereof with respect to the pivotpoints 18?, if desired.

It should be noted that the upper surface of the panel 2 1 of the basemeans 12 may be provided with the visibly discernible legend, Go Aheadand Blow Your Top, formed or die cut therein (or otherwise discerniblycarried thereby), as previously mentioned. However, this is not to beconstrued as specifically limiting the invention since this does nottouch upon the real inventive merits of the present invention.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific descriptionthereof set forth in this application are for the purpose ofillustrating the present invention and are not to be construed aslimiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specificstructure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore.Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantiallyequivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventiveconcept of the present invention.

We claim:

1. A jet-operated top comprising: a mounting ring mounted with respectto a supporting base means which is adapted to engage an auxiliarysupporting surface for positioning said mounting ring in a desiredspacial orientation; a rotary top -body provided with longitudinalconcentrically positioned spindle means having aligned oppositelyoutwardly projecting opposite end portions terminating in correspondingoppositely directed pivot points; said mounting ring being provided witha pair of oppositely positioned effective bearing means inside ofopposite surface portions of said mounting ring and rotatively receivingsaid oppositely directed pivot points of said spindle means whereby torotatively mount said top body within said mounting ring for rotationabout a longitudinal axis of rotation in the plane of said mounting ringand extending thereacross; and exteriorly accessible effective turbinemeans carried by said top body therearound in a plane transverse withrespect to said longitudinal spindle means, said effective turbine meanscomprising a circumferential series of angularly directed asymmetricalratchettype bucket-defining toothed vane portions encircling the centerpart of said top body and with all of said toothed vane portions havingsimilarly tangentially inclined outer faces interconnected by inwardlysubstantially radially directed rearwardly facing shoulder surfaceportions forming acute angles with the corresponding tangentiallyforwardly inclined outer surface portions; said top body being hollowand comprising a thin-sheet upper shell portion, a similar thin-sheetlower shell portion, and an intermediate interconnecting portion formedand shaped to define said effective turbine means and effectively joinedto both said upper and lower shell portions whereby to form said hollowtop body; said mounting ring, at a side location between the opposedportions thereof having said bearing means, being provided withjet-producing means directed toward said effective turbine means in aplane transverse with respect to said longitudinal spindle means wherebythe production and emission of a fluid jet from said jet-producing meanswill cause the forcible impingement of jetted fluid upon said effectiveturbine means and will elfectively impart a tangential force theretowhereby to efiectively apply torque to said top body aroud said axis ofrotation thereof in a manner producing rotation of said top body aroundsaid axis of rotation; said jet-producing means comprising a tube havinga remote rear end adapted to be supplied with fluid under pressure,whereby to effectively define and provide pressurizing means having aforward ejection and emission end portion effectively carried by saidmounting ring in a transverse direction relative to said longitudinalspindle means and in a tangential direction with respect to saideffective turbine means of said top body, the mounting of said forwardejection and emission end portion being provided by angular aperturemeans provided in a side portion of said mounting ring adapted tofrictionally receive and firmly hold said forward ejection and emissionend portion of said tube in said transverse tangentially directedrelationship with respect to said elfective turbine means of said topbody, the remote rear end of said tube effectively comprising amouth-engageable portion for effective pressurizing by a persons mouth.

FOREIGN PATENTS 12,917 1896 Great Britain.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner.

